The Cactus Trip Diaries

Friday, 7 December 2018 – around Diamantina

All images today, the last before tomorrow’s departure, are filed under S3764, and include:

Alain had persuaded Chris to join him in leaving a day early, while John and I joined Marlon to take him home and on to Belo Horizonte for our originally booked flight. After our missed flight from Sao Paulo Airport on arrival, Alain was terrified that he would miss the flight home as well. John and I arrived at the Sao Paulo departure gate with 10 minutes to spare before boarding started, so all was well.

Thursday 6 December 2018 – Diamantina to Inhai and back

We still had the usual reserve day, in case of breakdowns or sickness left, so Marlon asked for suggestions for any visits for today. After yesterday’s visit to U. horrida and because I missed out on the Inhai plants on day one due my fall, I proposed taking another look at the plants near Inhai.

So after a bit more sightseeing in Diamantina and purchases of some of the semi-precious stones we went back to Inhai. After a month to acclimatise since our first visit here must have helped, although I was grateful for the help that John and Chris gave me to get to the spot where on 16 November 2009 I found a beautiful trio of long spined plants. Surely, these must be the same taxon as what we had seen yesterday as U. horrida. The interesting thing looking at the Inhai plants in more detail, is that as well as long spined plants there were also a good number of ‘normal’ U. pectinifera, so that I am tempted to suggest that U. horrida could be a mere synonym of U. pectinifera.

So the trio of long spined U. pectinifera again had their pictures taken. Back home I noticed that the plants had not seem to have grown in the last 9 years! Come to think of it, neither had I! Just a lot weaker than in 2009!